BlaBlaCar has wasted no time in consolidating its strong position in the ride-sharing sector, closing the brand it acquired just three months ago.
The company, which claims to be the number one in the market, bought supposed number two Carpooling in April this year for an undisclosed fee, alongside a smaller deal to buy Hungarian brand Autohop.
BlaBlaCar said at the time that both brands would be looking to create “one of the largest sharing economy platforms in the world”.
But despite the branding associated with Carpooling for almost 15 years, BlaBlaCar has decided to scrap the name and pull everything together under a “single community” using the newer company’s name.
In a letter sent to customers this week, BlaBlaCar said existing Carpooling profiles will be automatically deactivated from the end of August.
Curiously, rather than switching to the new service, any bookings in the system will be deleted and customers will have to contact drivers directly to make new arrangements.
BlaBlaCar competitor Liftshare has wasted no time in questioning if the short-distance ride-sharing will suffer as a result of the low-mileage specialist Carpooling being taken off the market as a brand.
Chief operating officer Sergio Rodriguez says:
“Liftshare is concerned that the short haul car share market in the UK is being overlooked in favour of long distance trips.
“Liftshare offers both short and long distance ride sharing options within the UK, while Blablarcar specialises in long distance only. As a result many ex-Carpooling.co.uk members may not feel they can re-create their car sharing experience with the French site.”
Carpooling took a $10 million investment from car manufacturer Daimler in 2012, whilst BlaBlaCar swallowed a massive $100 million Series C round almost a year ago to the day from Index Ventures.